Lacing for apparel



lame 712, @2%. v l,673,327

P. HAHN LAGING FOR APPAREL Filed March 18. 1927 'gli J6 Patented June12, 1928.

PATENT OFFICE.

I PAUL HAHN, F BERLIN', GERMANY.

LACING ron. armani..

Application filed Iarch 18, 1927, Serial No. 178,527, and in GermanyMarch 17, 1926.

My invention relates to improvements in lacings for apparel, and moreparticularly for shoes, and the object of the improvements is to providea. lacing which is comfortable 6 in use, and which is capable of manyuses and is not subject to wear for a considerable length of time. Animportant featureof my'improved lacing is that when using the same inconnection with shoes it has exactly l0 the tension comfortable for thewearer, and it is not made so tight as to press the foot, nor is it soloose that it does not securely hold the shoe in position. With the saidobject in view m invention consists in manul facturing the acing in theform of a solid rubber band or string preferably of circularcross-section and provided at both ends with suitable fastening meanssuch as buttons, loops, hooks, and the like, the said fastening meansbeing fixed to the string so that they can-.be readil adjusted thereonfor varying the length o tlie lacing. As distinguished from lacingscomposed of individual spun rubber bands, my improved string ispreferable because it is subject in a less degree 'to wear, the life ofAthe composed rubber bands being comparatively short, because theindividual threads are easily torn. Further, the appearance of myimproved lacing is better for the reason that there are no projectingthread portions which in lacings nowvin use are produced by the tearingof one or the other of the individual threads. Further, the lacing madefrom a solid rubber string or'band can readily be fixed to the fasteningmembers provided at the ends thereof, and the knot or4 the like forfixing the string to the fastening member'requires little space, so thatsmall and 40 tin fastening members may be used and the lacing can bereadily adapted to all the parts ofthe apparel such as linen,` outerapparel, Suspenders and the like. A very important field of the use ofmy improved lacing relates to shoes, and as a matter of fact the novelform of the lacing permits novel designs of shoes to be used.

For the purpose of explaining the invention several examples embodyingthe same I0 have been shown in the accompanying inwardly, so that thecap h and the disk t Fig. l, is a section on an enlarged scale taken yonthe line 1*--1a of Fig. 1,

' Fig 2, is a detail sectional elevation showing one of the vbuttons ofthelacing and the end of the string attached thereto,

F ig. 3, is an elevation similar to -the one shown in Fig. 1 andillustrating a modiiication, the lacing having a comparatively shortstring thus'providing a button,

Fig. 4, is an elevation showing .another modification f the lacing, and

Figs. 5v to 8 are elevations showing shoes and illustrating dierent usesof my improved lacing.

As appears from Figs. 1 and 1, my improved lacing consists of a solidstring a preferably circular in cross-section and made from a suitableelastic material such as rubber. In the example illustrated in thefigures, a non-spun string .e is used,' and ordinarily I prefer to usesuch strings, thoughI do not wish to limit myself to this feature. Theuse of non-spun strings is preferable for the reason that the joint withthe fastening means is comparatively small. In the example shown in thefigures buttons k1 and k2 are fixed to the end of the string, and intheexample illustrated in Fig. 2, the said buttons consist of'a concavedisk t and a cap la, united so as to provide a hollow chamber adapted toenclose a knot provided at the end of the string. Referring more indetail to Fig. 2, the button comprises an outer hollow cap'zl formedwith a at annular portion a: and a flange c, and the inner hollowportion t formed with a flange 1' corresponding to and embraced by theange c. A As shown. both flanges are slightly bent are securely heldtogether. The disk t is formed with a central bore of a diameter equalto the outer diameter of the string z, which therefore can be passedthrough the said bore. Further, the disk is formed with .100

a radial slit y imparting a certain elasticity to the disk andpermitting a suitable tool such as a nail to be inserted for removingthe disk t from the cap, as may be necessary for rearranging theconnection between the string z and the button h, t. As shown the saidconnection is made by means of a knot el made at the end of the string2. Thus, for fixing the button to the string, the string is first passedwith its end through the bore of the disk t, the' knot e1 is made at apart of the string corresponding to the desired length of the lacing,and finally, the cap 71. is pressed on the disk t, the inwardly bentflange c thereof securely engaging the flange r of the said disk. Thestring e being made from solid rubber, the knot is very small, so thatalso the button h, t can be very neat. The knot is entirely confinedwithin the button, the projecting end of the string having first beencut short before placing the cap la, on the disk t. If in the use of thelacing it is found that the string .e is too long a suitable tool suchas a nail is inserted through the slit y, whereupon the disk t can bereadily removed from the cap c. Now the knot el is unmade, the string zis pulled farther through the bore of the said disk. and the knot el isremade at the desired place, whereupon the cap lz, is again placed onthe disk t.

It will be understood that lacings of any desired length may be made. InF 1g. 3 I have shown a modification in which the length of the string z3is substantially equal to the length of the shank of a button, and as amatter of fact the lacing shown 1n the said fi re is intended to be usedas a. button.

In ig. 4 I have shown a modificatlon, 1n which one of the buttons c hassubstantially the form of the button shown in Figs. 2 and .3, while theother button a: is exceedingly small and fiat, the small dimensions ofthe said button being possible because the space required for the knotof the string a* is very small. The lacing shown in Fig. 4 is designedfor use in connection with shoes, the fiat button :n being placed on theinner face of the said shoe.\

In shoe-lacings such as are now in use, it is inconvenient to dispose ofthe ends of the lace, and further, the tension of the lace depends onthe quality of the lacing, and the ability of the person wearing theshoe. When usin my improved lacing in connection with lioes the saidobjections are obviated, and it is not necessary, when putting on or offthe shoe to make the lacing.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a. shoe provided with a strap 26 and having ateach side a slit s, the margins of the said slits being provided witheyelets o1 and o2. For closing the said slits lacings such as have beendescribed with reference to Fig. 1 are provided, the said lacingscomprising a solid rubber string z provided at one end with a flatbutton such as shown in Fi 4 and at its opposite end with a larger uttonc, the flat button being disposed within the shoe at the rear of theeyelet 25. From the said flat button the string is passed first to theopposite eyelet o1 and thereafter, within the shoe, to the next eyeleto2, and back again on the outside of the shoe to the opposite eyelet o1,etc., until finally the large button k1 is located at the outside of theshoe. The said large button is engaged ly a. slit p made in the strap26. A shoe ma e in the manner described and shown in Fig. 5 iscomfortable in use, because, by being connected to the elastic string z,the strap 26 yields to a certain extent. Further, the shoe itself isyielding to some extent, and it follows the movements of the foot of thewearer, because the slits s are jointed b the elastic string z. It willbe understoo that a similar slit and lacing are provided at the oppositeside of the shoe. Of course, the use of the lacing is not limited to themanner of applying the same to the shoe, and in some cases the lacin ispassed from one eyelet o1. perpendicular y to the slit to the oppositeeyelet 02, passed from o2 on the inner side of the shoe to the nexteyelet o,

through the latter to the outside of the shoe U and perpendicularly tothe slit and to the corresponding eyelet o1, from the latter on theinner side of the shoe and on the same side of the slit to the nexteyelet o2, etc.

In the modification shown in Fig. 6, the 1 lacing z is provided with twoflat buttons such 'as w shown in Fi 4, which buttons are located withinthe s oe, and the string a is located at the outside of the shoe torovide a loop adapted to be engaged by a ut- 1 ton 28 fixed to the strap26. As shown two pairs of e elets o3, o3, and o, o* are provided, so tat the lacing z may also be fixed to the eyelets o, o.

In Fig. 7 I have shown a shoe having a l slit .91 located near the frontpart of the outer side of the upper, the margins of the said slit beinglikewise provided with eyelets o1 and o2. As shown, a single lacing z ispassed through the said eyelets in the 1 manner shown in the fi re, oneof the flat buttons of the strin being located at 25 and within theshoe. rom the int 25 the string is passed across the s t a1 and to the oposlte eyelet o, from whence it is passe below the shoe and upwardly tothe next eyelet o1. From the eyelet o1 it crosses again the slit 81,whereupon it is passed inwardly through the corresponding eyelet o etc.Finally 1t ends into a fiat button which is located within the shoe. Insome cases I make use of three short lacin each provided with two flatbuttons connecting corr riding e elets a1 and o.

In ig. 8 ave shown the lacing s as 1 gether by frictional contact ofcooperating inclined rims, one of the partsbeing formed 10 with a radialslot permitting an opening tool to be passed therethrough.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiix my signa-ture.

` PAUL HAHN.

